Traffic lights
by loosingletters
Summary: Kou drives, Kei plans. Not because Kei doesn't know how to drive, not because he can plan easier if he's not distracted by traffic. It's definitely not because he still remembers the first time as vividly as the bright red of a traffic light.


**Summary: Kou drives, Kei plans. Not because Kei doesn't know how to drive, not because he can plan easier if he's not distracted by traffic. It's definitely not because he still remembers the first time as vividly as the bright red of a traffic light.**

 **So what do you mean I shouldn't overanalyze that it's** ** _always_** **Kou driving?**

Kou still remembers when they _borrowed_ the red car from the parking lot. Mostly because there had been tons of mosquitoes biting him and he had run into two lampposts because it was already late at night and therefore very dark.

It's definitely not because he kept looking around, expecting some government agent to shoot them.

At least nobody could see them steal- _borrowing_ the car at such an hour. Nagai had opened the car a great deal faster than Kou had believed the other teenager to be able to. He hadn't doubted Nagai's ability, the black haired teenager was ridiculously smart, but breaking into the car usually didn't belong to somebody's everyday knowledge.

Kou had immediately gone for the driver's seat, between the two of them he was the older one after all, but Nagai had stopped him.

"You're just going to get us killed," he had said in his holier-than-thou voice Kou couldn't believe he had already gotten used to. But since he wasn't exactly up for fighting now that he had finally gotten the other to work with him, he just held up his hands in defeat and went for the front passenger seat. Not being the one to drive had its advantages too. For example he could eat and rest his feet from the march they already had behind them.

For the most part the drive was silent, Nagai only sometimes muttering something or tapping on the wheel with his fingers. Kou took the time to read through the newspaper and eat some of the fruits they had taken from a shop. They drove the whole night and mostly they didn't see any other cars as they took the long ways round. Though Kou didn't pretend to really know, he was sure he had dozed off by the time the radio announcer gave the 1 a.m. news. When he woke up again, they were a great deal closer to wherever Nagai was taking them, about three hours closer to be exact. Despite that they had wanted to avoid towns, they were currently at the border of one.

For a moment Kou wanted to question Nagai, but then decided that it wasn't worth it. Nagai was frustratingly rational and if he thought they should drive through a town then it probably was the best decision.

They stopped at a crossroads as the traffic light shone in a bright red. From the right he could see another car coming closer, Kou was betting on a bus or a truck, but otherwise paid it no mind. As long as it wasn't a police car or belonged to the government, Kou didn't feel the need to panic. The constant fear of being caught, the paranoia that had developed ever since he had figured out he was an Ajin really was weighing heavily on his mind.

The car, which revealed itself as a white or perhaps pale blue truck passed them by and continued on his merry way, lightening up the dark night and probably scaring one or another overtired driver. Feeling some sort of satisfaction that he had guessed right, Kou returned to reading through the newspaper, now checking the scores of the European Football Championship. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the traffic light turn green, signaling they could go on with their journey.

"It's green," Kou spoke up after Nagai didn't show the slightest inclination of starting to drive again. The newspaper now rested on his lap as he frowned at the other teenager.

"I know," Nagai bit out between breaths. The teen was sickly pale and trembling rather bad. Despite that his fingernails were already leaving imprint on the wheel, Nagai didn't seem able to keep his hands from shaking. The black haired teen then let go of the wheel and went to rub his palms on his pants, just as if he was wiping sweat off them. The trembling lessened but the short breaths Nagai seemed to try to get, dare he say, _under control_ again, still remained.

"Are you alright?" Kou asked, worry already gnawing at him. He didn't know how to deal with Nagai normally, how was he supposed to act around him when he behaved like that?

"I'm fine," Nagai replied, his voice sharp enough to cut.

By now Nagai looked pretty angry again and a great deal calmer than before. To think that Kou would be relieved to see Nagai's anger again, was rather ironic as he had worked so hard to keep the other level headed.

"Somehow I don't believe you," Kou answered, earning himself a venomous look.

"How about we switch?" He suggested then, completely ignoring Nagai's obvious horror at that idea. "I drive and you…" He trailed off, searching for a better word than _calm down._ "Think."

For a moment it seemed like Nagai wanted to protest but then he opened his seatbelt and got out of the car. Kou took this as a _yes_ Nagai was too proud to say out loud. Quickly they changed seats and Kou began to drive. Nagai kept tapping with his fingers again his legs, head leant against the window. As far as Kou could tell it didn't even take Nagai five minutes to drift off, only sometimes snapping out of his thoughts to tell Kou where to drive to.

Nagai didn't go for the driver's seat again when they stopped, leaving that spot open for Kou, as he immediately sat down on the passenger seat. With paper on his lap and a pencil in his hand he started to take notes, hopefully on how to take Satou out. Kou hadn't asked why Nagai had done a sudden 180 when that truck had crossed them but Nagai had also never asked about Kou's fear of heights and need to have something eatable around. But he guessed Nagai already knew anyway. The first time you always remember as vividly as the bright red of a traffic light.

 **Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!**


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